New Pine Island westbound off-ramp on I-595 to open next

Q: When is the next milestone for the Interstate 595 reconstruction? Progress seems to be somewhat stagnant as of late.

George Kaspriske, Plantation

A: The new westbound off-ramp to Pine Island Road will open in the next few weeks. The new ramp begins just before University Drive, much farther east than where drivers exit to Pine Island today.

The $1.2 billion reconstruction of I-595 is in the home stretch, but there's still lots of work to do. At this time next year, it should be substantially completed.

For the remainder of 2013, you'll see crews focusing on finishing the bridges connecting Florida's Turnpike to the reversible lanes in the median of I-595. The turnpike off-ramps to I-595 are being reconfigured so the area where drivers weave to go east or west on I-595 will be separated. And new eastbound on- and off-ramps are being constructed at Hiatus Road, along with a bypass bridge that will carry traffic bound for Nob Hill Road over Hiatus.

The eastbound Hiatus on- and off-ramps are closed until Thanksgiving. When they re-open, the eastbound exits for Hiatus and Nob Hill will be combined with a single off-ramp.

Q: Before U.S. 441 was widened some years ago between Yamato and Clint Moore roads, the northbound left turn into Boca Chase Drive was changed to a protected left turn. Is it possible to have the protected-permissive left turn back? Drivers have to wait minutes here to turn while no oncoming traffic is coming from the north.

A: Several crashes have occurred in the past five years at the intersection, all left turn crashes during the protected left turn arrow cycle. The most recent crash happened in 2012.

The Florida Department of Transportation said based on its review of the crashes and safety of the intersection, it doesn't intend to change the signal back to protected-permissive left turns.

Q: What is the purpose of the second set of traffic signals on Flamingo Road at Orange Drive, just north of the intersection of Flamingo and Griffin roads? Drivers on Orange can't cross Griffin and can only turn right onto Griffin. Recently, northbound traffic on Griffin was stopped at Orange for a prolonged period of time and there was no traffic coming from Orange.

Jan Valerie, Weston

A: The second set of signals is for the pedestrian/equestrian crosswalk that is connected to the trail that runs along the South New River Canal, said Ed Davis, assistant director of Broward County Traffic Engineering.

Pedestrians and horse-riders using the trail can activate the signals by pressing the push buttons on either side of the crosswalk. The second set of signals is connected to the Flamingo/Griffin signal to the south, and only stops northbound and southbound drivers on Flamingo when the buttons are pressed. The signals do not control Orange traffic.